13 posts from December 2008

They all came through. Lil' Wayne, 50 Cent, Nas, Rick Ross, DJ Khaled, Ace Hood, Young Jeezy, the Clipse, Ludacris, LL Cool J, DJ Drama, Joe Budden, Fat Joe, Tha Dogg Pound, Snoop Dogg, Charles Hamilton, B.O.B., T.I., Fabolous, Soulja Boy and even Katt Williams. The best of the best appeared on Mixtape Monday and we have to thank all the artists and all of you who have watched and logged on every week to support us.

This was our biggest and best year ever and, in 2009, we promise to only make it even better. Look for some big enhancements and a continuation of the big names. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let's take few minutes to reflect on the dopest segments from your favorite day of the week.

You didn't think we would let 2008 close without us sending major big ups (once again) to the artists who keep this underground circuit we love thriving? OK, no more time to waste, here are our annual Mixtape Monday Awards — and head over to the Newsroom blog to see what more we have to say about our picks! Trumpets, please!

Mixtape Act of the Year
Shaheem Reid's Pick: G-Unit
Rahman Dukes' Pick: G-Unit

Mixtape DJ of the Year
Shaheem Reid: Drama
Rahman Dukes: Green Lantern

Radio and/or Satellite DJ of the Year
Shaheem Reid: Green Lantern
Rahman Dukes: Whoo Kid

Lyricist of the Year
Shaheem Reid: Nas
Rahman Dukes: Nas

Most Slept-on Album of the Year
Shaheem Reid: The Game, L.A.X.
Rahman Dukes: Mobb Deep, H.N.I.C. 2

Album of the Year
Shaheem Reid: Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III
Rahman Dukes: T.I., Paper Trail

Concert of the Year
Shaheem Reid: Kanye West's Glow in the Dark Tour (Close second props to the Rock the Bells Jones Beach stop)
Rahman Dukes: Atlanta's Birthday Bash

Producer of the Year
Shaheem Reid: Kanye West
Rahman Dukes: Kanye West

Topic of the Year
Shaheem Reid: The Auto-Tune takeover
Rahman Dukes: Did Jay-Z and Beyoncé get married?

Breakthrough DJ of the Year
Shaheem Reid: Infamous
Rahman Dukes: DJ Scream

Breakthrough MC of the Year
Shaheem Reid: Shawty Lo
Rahman Dukes: Shawty Lo

Live Performer of the Year
Shaheem Reid: Kanye West (Gotta give a shout to my runner up T.I. His shows had so much energy.)
Rahman Dukes: Lil Wayne

Internet Superstar
Shaheem Reid: Charles Hamilton
Rahman Dukes: Consequence

Breakthrough Of The Year (Producer)
Shaheem Reid: Drumma Boy
Rahman Dukes: Don Cannon

Craziest Collaboration
Shaheem Reid: Jay-Z, T.I., Lil Wayne and Kanye West on "Swagger Like Us"
Rahman Dukes: Young Jeezy and Nas on "My President"

Check for in '09
Shaheem Reid: Obviously, that three-headed monster from the land of Interscope is going to be extremely successful when and if 50 Cent, Eminem and Dr. Dre put out albums. But I'm thinking Jay-Z's Blueprint 3 will be the album the year. Hov's rhymes and a lot of Kanye's beats? That's guaranteed timeless music. On a more underground level, I'm hoping Joe Budden and the Clipse get more shine. They have been some of the doper MCs in the game for the past few years. I thoroughly enjoyed all of Fabolous' guest appearances, so I have faith in the upcoming Loso's Way.

Rahman Dukes: I'm still waiting on that classic album from my boy Saigon's The Greatest Story Never Told. "Believe It" is still an amazing record, and that's just a taste of what to expect from the album. Of course, keeping it Queens, I can't wait to see what 50 Cent does. Fif is by far the realest cat doing it in the game. Jay-Z has been on a streak lately with all of the Kanye West-produced tracks, so his album will probably be the best of '09. Can't forget about the Clipse, and hopefully we'll finally get that Cuban Linx II. Lets go, Rae!

Of course, not everyone can win an award, so here's the best of the rest:

Standout Street CDs and Independent Albums of '08

50 Cent's Sincerely Yours, Southside
G-Unit's Return of the Body Snatchers and Elephant in the Sand
Lil Wayne and DJ Drama's Dedication 3
The Clipse's Road to Till the Casket Drops
DJ Khaled's We Global
Prodigy's H.N.I.C. 2
J. Period's March 9th Mixtape and Best of Mary J. Blige (Three CD Edition)
Notorious B.I.G. and Big L's Live From Amsterdam
Nipsey Hussle's Bullets Ain't Got No Name, Vol. I and II
Crooked I's Block Obama I and II 

The British singer/DJ/musician Sri Lankan M.I.A., has just launched her own clothing collection, also called M.I.A. She is known for wearing rich, bright-colored clothes, and her co-named outfit line will of course reflect her own personal style.

The line consists of T-shirts, bodysuits and leggings.

She explains:

With my stuff, because everything’s really bright, if you lose it or someone steals it, you can see it from miles away and you can be like, ‘Oy! Give me my shirt back!’

The star made row with model Okley Leslie.

She told The Fader:

I wanted to tie all my work together. When I make an album, I make a number of artworks that go with it, and now I make some clothes that go with it too. So this Okley run was an extension of my Kala album and artwork.

The line exists to get the message across - whatever the aesthetic is that I’m trying to communicate. The Kala artwork and sound and clothes are all about being worldly, and representing the idea of the whole world being mashed up into one.”

M.I.A. is pregnant now and maybe some day soon we’ll see her launch a new collection, this time maternity styled range.

Yet another artist will add outfit “designer” title to their repertoire.

Celebrity fashion

I love Kanye West but some things he says and does are more than I can take. Like this time.

West’s love of fashion is not a secret any more as he often gushes fashion is “just my love” and it’s something he would like to do “for the rest” of his life.

He can collaborate with most noted fashion houses and launch his new collections, he’s good at many things but apparently fashion tips for women aren’t among them.

Kanye West’s advice for First-Lady-to-be Michelle Obama is simply the following: he suggests her opting for Marge Simpson’s hair style and Victor & Rolf superhero boots during the Inauguration ball on January 20th, 2009.

Just go hardcore with it,” Kanye said in a statement.

Kanye goes even further saying he could probably design for President elect Barack Obama some day, though his designs would be perfect for club fashion, adding he’s not ready for suits and stuff yet.

Irish rockers U2 have named their new album "No Line On The Horizon," and will release it worldwide in early March, their label said on Thursday.

The quartet's 12th studio album was originally expected to be released by the end of this year, but the band announced in September that it would keep writing more tunes. Recording took place in Morocco, Dublin, New York and London.

Interscope Records will release "No Line On The Horizon" internationally on March 2, and a day later in North America.

It marks the follow-up to "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb," which was released in late 2004 and went on to sell 9 million copies worldwide, according to Interscope. It also garnered U2 their second album of the year Grammy, following 1987's "The Joshua Tree."

The new album was produced by long-time collaborators Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, with additional production by Steve Lillywhite. Tunes recorded in 2006 with producer Rick Rubin, the man behind Johnny Cash's comeback, have been jettisoned.

Tour plans have not been announced. The "Vertigo" world tour for the last album ran from March 2005 to December 2006. U2 is partnered on touring and merchandise with concert promoter Live Nation Inc, which said earlier on Thursday that it bought back the band's stock in the company for a guaranteed $25 million -- $19 million more than the market price. Interscope is a unit of Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group.

Nicole Richie isn't recording an album with Rihanna any time soon.

While Nicole respects Rihanna and thinks she is immensely talented, she is not currently working on an album and hence, not currently working with Rihanna as has been recently reported," a rep for Richie, 27, tells Usmagazine.com.

See funny childhood photos of Nicole Richie.

Rumors of a collaboration stem from a New York newspaper, which reported Rihanna and Kelly Osbourne were "coaching Nicole and giving her tips on how to perform."

While Richie was a member of an all-girls band named Darling in 2004, she's currently focusing on her jewelry line, House of Harlow - which she named after her 11-month-old daughter.

See what Nicole looked like pregnant.

Harlow is obviously the most important part of my life," she says in the newest issue of Us Weekly, on stands now.

Jermaine Dupri wants to clear up some misconceptions.

In an entry on his blog, the music producer says he and girlfriend Janet Jackson haven't split up - and she isn't pregnant.

Dupri writes: "As you all know Janet is a very private person . . . the only reason you see her as much as you do on my YouTube vlog is because of me. LOL. But I hear yall and your questions. . . . No she is not pregnant and yes we're still together."

Jackson and Dupri have been dating for about four years.

Dupri also writes: "It baffles me how yall let these blog and magazines control your lifes."

Jackson cancelled a string of concerts on her Rock Witchu tour this fall because of a bout of migraine-associated vertigo, which is characterized by dizziness, imbalance and other symptoms.

Following the October deaths of three relatives, the singer is set to shoot a video for 'If It Isn't Love' next week.

Just days after calling her Grammy nominations "truly a blessing," Jennifer Hudson is heading back to work. The singer and Oscar-winning actress is set to start filming the video for her next single, Yahoo! News reports.

A J Records spokesperson said the singer will head to Los Angeles next week to shoot the video for the song "If It Isn't Love," the follow-up to the Grammy-nominated "Spotlight." Hudson was reportedly supposed to film the video around the time her mother, brother and nephew were killed in Chicago in October.

The release of her debut album has been overshadowed by the deaths of her three family members. In October, only weeks before the tragedy, Hudson released the LP, which also features her Grammy-nominated duet with fellow "American Idol" alum Fantasia, "I'm His Only Woman."

So many different people come up to me and say, 'I'm a huge fan,' and I say, 'Oh my God, what am I going to have for everyone [on the album]?' " Hudson said then. "That was the biggest challenge, [but] nobody knows my potential the way I do."

Last week, Hudson received four Grammy nods, including Best R&B Album and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. In a statement, she said, "It's been a childhood dream of mine to release an album, so to receive four Grammy nominations is truly a blessing. I'm extremely honored and humbled by the nominations."

mtv.com

Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong has hinted that their forthcoming new Butch Vig-produced album could take a "powerpop" direction.

The frontman did not reveal song titles or details of the songs they are currently working on in the studio, but name-checked the Creation, the Who, the Beatles, Cheap Trick, and the Jam as possible influences.

I really like f--king with arrangements," Armstrong told Altpress.com. "I always try to look at the possibilities of how you write powerpop music.

How do you take something--and it could be anything from the Creation and the Who to the Beatles to Cheap Trick to the Jam--and try to expand on the idea of what is supposed to be three-chord mayhem?

How do you do it in a way where the arrangements are just unpredictable? So I'm pushing myself to be progressive in songwriting and being a songwriter."

The frontman went on to discuss working with Vig, who produced Nirvana's seminal grunge album Nevermind in 1991

He doesn't take for granted what we have here [in the studio]," he said, "but he uses everything to the best of his knowledge and the best of his ability.

I mean, he gets psyched on a f--king microphone! That's inspiring. That's amazing. He's not a cheerleader type of producer; he's just a very hard-working, straightforward guy.

He's very Midwestern, too. For example, he'll turn around when you're working on something and just go, 'That's badass.' And you're like, 'What do you mean, 'badass?' Is that more bad, or is it, like, ass?'"

Green Day posted video footage of them working in the studio with Butch Vig in October.

(Dec. 8) - It's been seven years since Mariah Carey played her most well-known theatrical role in 2001's slightly autobiographical movie 'Glitter,' but she hasn't gotten rid of the acting bug just yet. Carey stars as Krystal, an aspiring singer who flees from her controlling husband and sets off on a journey with two brothers, in her new film, 'Tennessee,' due in select theaters in March 2009.

Acting efforts aside, Carey co-wrote a leading track from the movie -- called 'Right to Dream' -- with Willie Nelson, and she performed it with Nelson's harmonica player, Mickey Raphael, for the soundtrack. Check out the video premiere of 'Right to Dream,' which is chock full of 'Tennessee' footage.

popeater.com